The present invention relates to the art of making tortilla shells and, more particularly, to a hands free tortilla forming machine for producing a quantity of tortilla shells from balls of dough.
It is been known in the art to utilize pivotally connected forming plates in connection with a sizing ring to form a dough ball into a tortilla shell which is shown in McCarney U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,167 and McCarney U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,914 which are incorporated by reference for background information. While these references show effective tortilla forming machines capable of forming a wide range of sizes and shapes of tortilla shells, these tortilla forming machines are hand operated thereby requiring hand force to fully form the tortilla shell.
It is, of course, well known that a ball of dough can be molded into various shapes and sizes to produce a tortilla shell. However, the traditional forming machines had several disadvantages. In this respect, prior art forming machines generally fall into one of two different categories. The first category relates to forming machines which are based on simple mechanical structures that require hand force to operate the machine. While these machines are simple to use, are typically inexpensive and easy to maintain, they are not well suited for quickly producing tortilla shells based on their manual operation. Accordingly, the machines in this category are not well suited for making a lot of shells which is necessary for use in connection with larger restaurants or retail products. The second category is designed for quickly producing tortilla shells. As a result, these machines are used to produce higher volumes of tortilla shells. However, the forming machines of this category rely on complicated, expensive and often large mechanical structures to achieve the desired result. Furthermore, these mechanical structures require a power source to drive the mechanical action. Therefore, these machines are only suited for higher volume production of tortilla shells. As a result, there is a significant gap between the lower volume, traditionally household style machines and those which are used for high volume tortilla shell production.
The gap between these categories prevents medium scale operations from obtaining an effective forming machine for its needs. Furthermore, the machines in both categories described above are not well suited for smaller retail operations or even operations which are mobile in nature, such as food stands or taco stands. Obviously the cost of the high volume machines prevent them from being used in many of the gap operations. However, the complexity of the mechanical structure of these machines also prevents them from being used by the gap operations. Many smaller, full service operations offer a broad menu which includes differently sized tortilla shells and, therefore, changeover from one size tortilla forming shell to another is also important. Complicated mechanical structures, as are found in the high volume machines, are not well suited for quick changes from one size shell to another size shell. While this is not an issue when the forming machine is used to produce hundreds or even thousands of a particular tortilla shell, it can be a major problem for the full service restaurant that offers a wide range of dough products.
Another factor which makes the high volume machines incompatible for many operations is that fact that these machines require electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic components which are bulky, and not easily moved. Accordingly, the machines can not be used at many food stands due to the lack of power and/or the limited space which is available. As will be appreciated from the above, there is a significant void between the home style machines and the high volume production machines. The void relates to forming machine that can be used to easily produce a variety of differently sized tortilla shells quickly without necessitating complicated mechanical and/or electrical systems. Therefore the machine can be inexpensively produced, easily moved between different locations and easily stored.
In accordance with the present invention, a hands free tortilla forming machine is provided which advantageously allows dough products to be quickly produced while still having a uniform thickness and peripheral shape. Further, the tortilla forming machine according to the present invention allows quick and easy changes in the thickness and peripheral shape of the formed tortilla shell without requiring extensive or time consuming modifications to the forming machine. And even further, the forming machine includes an actuating mechanism which allows the operator to safely use both hands while the tortilla shell is being formed.
In this respect, a tortilla forming machine is provided which produces the foregoing advantages by utilizing a foot operated mechanical link structure which provides enough mechanical advantage so that the operator is not required to use significant force to actuate the foot pedal. In addition, the individual links of the mechanical link structure are compact and can be easily mounted on a portable cart. Furthermore, the mechanical link structure produces quick pivotal movement of the push plate during the initial portion of its stroke while it produces high levels of force during the later or forming portion of the stroke.
It is accordingly an outstanding objective of the present invention to provide an improved hands free tortilla forming machine for molding tortilla shells of a desired thickness and peripheral shape.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a tortilla forming machine which can be quickly and easily changed from forming tortilla shells of one size to tortilla shells of another size.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tortilla forming machine that can be used to quickly produce finished tortilla shells without complicated mechanical and/or electrical structures.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a tortilla forming machine that can quickly produce a number of differently sized tortilla shells.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tortilla forming machine that can quickly produce tortilla shells and is portable.
Even yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tortilla forming machine with quick actuation that does not compromise the force generating capability of the machine during the final forming portion of the stroke.
Yet a further object of the present invention is the provision of a tortilla forming machine of the foregoing character which is economical to manufacture, easy to manipulate with respect to forming the dough ball, and which is effective in repeatedly producing a tortilla shell at a desired thickness and peripheral shaped.